Profile of the Low-Income Uninsured in South Carolina

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) reported that an estimated 549,000 (13%) South Carolinians aged 0-64 years were uninsured in 2020. Among those in poverty, below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level, an estimated 205,000 did not have health insurance coverage (21.7%). These are the low-income uninsured in South Carolina.

As a measure of income, the federal poverty level (FPL) is often used to determine eligibility for certain programs and benefits, including reduced-cost health coverage such as Medicaid and CHIP. Under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid eligibility was revised and expanded to cover low- and moderate-income residents, up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level. States were allowed to either implement the expansion or opt out. In non-expansion states, uninsured individuals who would have otherwise been eligible for coverage under the new rules of the ACA remained ineligible and have been referred to as the “Medicaid coverage gap” or “gap population”.

Click below for an infographic (pdf) that reports the latest survey information about South Carolina’s gap population in 2020.